I'm a huge fan of hip-hop; have been for years, although I've become increasingly frustrated and disappointed with what's being played on the radio these days. Granted, radio is becoming less and less relevant in terms of new and original music (it's certainly not where I go for new tunes), but it's still a place where many very talented artists get their starts. Unfortunately, it's also become a haven for hacks and thugs, where the ability to ramble about bling and bitches supersedes true artistic talent and sincere social commentary. Hip-hop isn't just about the tracks and the beats; it's also about the content of the message and the prose in which it's conveyed. All too often a good track or beat is wasted on a worthless, unoriginal, inarticulate rant of self promotion and hubris.
This is where I got the term 'Wasted Beats,' and thusly the name of the blog. This blog, like many others out there, will include musings about just about anything, but one of the themes I'd like to consistently cover is the promotion of good hip-hop, and, conversely, calling out the hacks that give hip-hop a bad name. So, who gets called out first? Although this hack's single has been out for a while, a good friend of mine has this track as a ring tone on his phone, so my hatred for this song has a special place in my heart.
WASTED BEAT #1: The Way I Live by Baby Boy Da Prince
This song has a fantastic track; if only 2Pac were still around. Unfortunately, Mr 'Da Prince' massacred it with his hit single 'The Way I Live.' Let me say this loud and clear: anyone who feels compelled to not only stack and count their money, but also advertise the self absorbed act to the rest of the world has some serious insecurity issues (that goes for you too Floyd Mayweather Jr.!). The message in this song is deplorable, as is the case with most wasted beats. Young men out there, pay attention... life is about much more than being a pimp, rolling in spinner dubs, and stacking Benjamins!!!
1 comment:
Have you ever heard a Tupac song? Granted his music is better than most rap (you used to be able to take a class at Stanford in the English department that analyzes his lyrics like poetry), but you can't say he didn't talk about "bling and bitches" and "being a pimp, rolling in spinner dubs, and stacking Benjamins". In fact, trace hip hop's roots, and you will find that most of it is based on these types of thing.
However, in my opinion, the lost art is not in delivery, muse, and vocabulary, but in freestyle, which I think is what true rap/hip hop is. You don't find too many real freestylers anymore - most just memorize lyrics and spit them out and claim they are freestying. You can tell someone is really freestyling when they aren't spitting out symbolic messages, fancy vocabulary, or when they play off things that are happening in real time. For a REAL freestyle, have a look at this video from Lil Keke and Big Pokey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gFYmcbSWYA (make sure to watch the 2nd half too, especially when they break out the blunt!)
Also, everyone listens to music (whether it be rap, country, metal, etc) for their own reasons. Sounds like you listen for some type of interpretable message, but many listen to rap for other reasons like to get themselves "krunk" so to speak. I don't think Mos Def or a lot of the other monotone east coast crap does much in that regard. So, it depends on why you listen to music in general.
Don't get me wrong though, "The Way I Live" is pretty close to as bad as it gets.
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